OXFORD – The Village of Oxford's financial records were the topic of an audit performed by New York State Comptroller Tomas DiNapoli which highlighted a number of inconsistencies and unaccounted cash shortages.

The purpose of the audit was to review the Justice Court’s financial operations for the period of June 1, 2011 through April 30, 2013 in which a discrepancy of nearly $10,000 was reported by DiNapoli's office.

According to the comptroller’s office, village justices did not ensure that justice court moneys were accounted for properly. The audit found numerous errors and irregularities, from adjudicating traffic tickets to recording, collection and deposit, and in reporting to the Justice Court Fund (JCF) and the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV).

The 18-page report also identified a $3,500 shortage in the court’s account of the late Justice Charles Race, of which $2,300 in bail had been forfeited during the scope period but not deposited or remitted to the JCF. Additionally, a discrepancy of more than $1,300 in collections were recorded with no corresponding deposits.

More than 900 traffic tickets with outstanding fees on record at the DMV were not current in the court’s records and, therefore, represent significant unrealized revenue which prompted the comptroller’s audit. The justices did not prepare monthly accountabilities which the comptroller asserts could have identified these discrepancies.

During the time period of the audit, the village court, under Race, issued both manual and computer-generated receipts, but neither type of receipt was issued in sequential order. In addition, there were numerous missing receipt numbers in the software system that current village justices could not explain.

In ten cases totaling $2,520 that was reported to the DMV as paid, no records of the payments could be found in the software system or related deposits in the bank. Due to these discrepancies, there is no way to determine if moneys received may have been either lost or stolen.

Although the village board retains a CPA firm to annually review certain court activities, the reviews are generally presented to the board of trustees an average of six months after the pervious year, according to the audit finding. Additionally, Oxford board members did not fully understand the deficiencies reported or take any corrective action until recently.